Protein Digestibility-Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS)
The Food and Agriculture
Organization of the World Health
Organization (FAO/WHO) developed
PDCAAS for the measurement of
protein value in human nutrition.
The method is based on comparison of
the concentration of the first
limiting indispensable amino acid
(IAA) in the test protein with the
concentration of that amino acid in
a reference (scoring) pattern, which
was updated by the Institute of
Medicine (IOM) in 2005. This scoring
pattern is derived from the IAA
requirements of the preschool-age
child. The chemical score obtained
in this way is corrected for true
fecal digestibility of the test
protein. PDCAAS values higher than
100% are not accepted as such but
are truncated to 100%.¹
Although the principle of the
PDCAAS method has been widely
accepted, questions have been raised
in the scientific community about 1)
the validity of the preschool-age
child amino acid requirement values,
2) the validity of correction for
fecal instead of ileal digestibility
and 3) the truncation of PDCAAS
values to 100%. Also, the scoring
pattern does not include
conditionally indispensable amino
acids, which also contribute to the
nutrition value of a protein.¹
The PDCAAS of any individual
protein source is most meaningful
when the protein being evaluated is
the sole source of dietary protein.
Because dietary intake generally
includes multiple protein sources
with varying amino acid patterns, an
individual's protein requirements
are affected by the other components
of the diet as well as the overall
level of dietary protein and energy.
² Accurate evaluation of any
individual diet should include the
cumulative amounts of all amino
acids consumed.
Pro-Stat® Profile™ is a
complete protein supplement
providing the IOM 2005 IAA pattern
(PDCAAS=100%) in addition to
high-nitrogen conditionally
indispensable and dispensable amino
acids.
For more information on Pro-Stat®
Profile™,
click here.
¹Journal of Nutrition.
2000;130:1865S-1867S. © 2000 The
American Society for Nutritional
Sciences
² Castellanos VH, Litchford M,
Campbell W, Modular protein
supplements and their application to
long-term care. Nutrition in
Clinical Practice.2006:21: 485-504 |
